Golf ball retriever



Oct. 3, 1950 w. H. JASMER GOLF BALL RETRIEVER Filed Sept. 29, 1947 INVENTOR.

m/F/YEKS.

Patented Oct. 3, 1950 UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,524,527 GOLF BALLRETRIEVER William H. Jasmer, Detroit, Mich. Application September 29,1947, Serial No. 776,670 4 Claims. (01. 294-19) This invention relatesto a device for retrieving golf balls from streams, ponds, swamps, orother inaccessible places into which a golf ball may be driven on a golfcourse, and more particularly to such a device which is adapted to bedetachably clamped to the iron head of a golf club.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a golf ballretriever of the aforementioned type which is relatively inexpensive tomanufacture, rugged in construction, efiicient in operation, and neat inappearance; to provide a golf ball retriever of the aforementioned typein which the ball holding means thereof is generally indicated athingedly connected to the base portionof the retriever, which is adaptedto be detachably connected to the iron head of a golf club, so that theball holding means may be swung between a working position, in which theball holding means extends angularly away from the base portion, and astorage position, in which the ball holding means is disposedsubstantially coplanar with and adjacent to the base portion, wherebythe golf ball retriever can be compact1y folded and easily stored withina conventional pocket or compartment of a golf bag; to provide in a golfball retriever of the aforementioned type, means for releasablyretaining the ball holding means in a working position so that the ballholding means will be supported in a position approximatelyperpendicular to the shaft of the golf club on which it is mounted; toprovide a golf ball retriever of the aforementioned type which be easilyfitted to any conventional golf club of the iron type; to providegenerally an improved golf ball retriever which is simple 1 to use andwhich will enable golf balls to be picked. up in an eificient manner.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent fromthefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a golf ball retriever of thisinvention mounted on the iron head of a golf club;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top View of the structure illustrated in Fig. l;t

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevationalview of the structureillustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the golf ball retriever of thisinvention with the ring in folded positiomand I Fig. 5 is a sectionalview of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3 taken along the line 5-5thereof.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the golf ballretrieverof this invention is i, and is adapted to be detachablyconnected to the iron head 8, of a conventional golf club 9. The golfball retriever l comprises a strap i0, preferably of one piece as shown,which is reversely bent intermediate its ends, at H, so as to provide anouter strap leg I3, and an inner strap leg I5 spaced from the outerstrap leg. The strap I0 is preferably made of a suitable non-corrosivemetal such as stainless steel, thin enough in cross section to be easilybent so that it can be modified to fit various types of golf club irOnheads, as will be hereinafter brought out.

The lower end of the outer strap leg [3 is reversely looped at I 7 so asto provide a female hinge portion or eye having a laterally extendingopening IS, in the lower portion thereof. The free end portion of thereversely looped female hinge portion I1 is narrowed outwardly, abovethe opening I 9, to provide at opposite lateral ends thereof a pair ofupwardly facing shoulders 2!, for a use which will hereinafter appear. Ascrew 23 extends through the upper free end portion of the reverselylooped hinge portion l1, the inner and outer strap legs [5 and I3, andcarries a wing nut 25 on the inner threaded end thereof for clamping thestrap I 0 to the golf club head 8 and for holding the female hingeportion I! in proper relation to the outer strap leg 13.

A Wire element 2?, preferably of one-piece construction is provided forlifting and holding a golf ball 29, and. the element 27 includes a loopportion 28, the diameter of which is smaller than the outside diameterof the golf ball so as to relatively deeply seat and hold the golf balltherein, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The loop portion 28 of the wire 27terminates in a pair of spaced parallel legs 3!] which have their freeends bent inwardly to provide substantially abutting leg portions 3| and32, which form a male hinge portion which are disposed in the strapfemale hinge portion opening l9.v The legs 30 are spaced so as tostraddle the upper portion of the strap hinge I! and engage the strapshoulders 2i, as will be brought out below. The adjacent ends of thewire loop legs 31! and 32 are preferably interconnected in any suitablemanner, such as by soldering, brazing or welding, so that the wireelement 2? will not become disengaged from the strap I0 and insureproper engagement with the shoulders 2!. The wire loop is thereforeswingable between an angularly extended position, with respect to thestrap, as illustrated in full lines in Fig. 5, and a folded,substantially coplanar position, adjacent the outer leg l3 of the strap,

as illustrated in dot and dash lines in Fig. 5. The spaced parallel legsof the wire 21 abut the strap shoulders 2| when the wire is in itsangularly extended working position, so that the wire is supported bythe strap when retrieving a golf ball. The shoulders 2| are arranged soas to releasably retain the wire element 21 in such an angular relationto the strap that when the latter is mounted on the iron head 8 of thegolf club 9, the wire loop will extend outwardly approximatelyperpendicular to the shaft 39 of the golf club 9.

The golf ball retriever l is mounted on the iron head 8 of a golf clubby inserting the head of the golf club in the space defined by the straplegs l3 and I5, and tightening the wing nut 25 so as to clamp the straplegs [3 and I5 against the opposite faces of the golf club head. In thisway the golf ball retriever is detachably connected to the golf clubhead and the wire loop is disposed in a perpendicular relationship tothe shaft of the club. In order to remove the golf ball retriever fromthe club, the wing nut 25 is loosened and the retriever is slipped offthe open end of the club head 8. As the wire loop portion 28 is of asmaller diameter than a golf ball 29, the user merely grasps the handleof the club and dips the head 8 and golf ball retriever 1 down into thewater or the like, below the .ball to be retrieved, and catches the ballin the wire loop portion 28. The golf club is then raised and the ballis picked up by the loop 28 so as to be retrieved.

It will be noted that as the strap 9 is preferably of a relatively thinsection it may be bent in most cases to fit any conventional iron headof a golf club, that is, it may be modified to fit any of the differentpitched golf club irons now in conventional use; The wire 21 may bebent, with respect to the strap I9, as shown in dot and dash lines inFig. 1, so as to be disposed substantially perpendicular to the golfclub shaft regardless of the pitch of the latter, by applying a downwardpressure on the free end thereof.

After the retriever i has been removed from the golf club head, it canbe compactly folded by swinging the wire element 21 to the positionadjacent the strap outer leg H3. The retriever can then be stored in theconventional golf bag pocket or compartment, without taking up anyappreciable space. If desired, the retriever may be left on the head ofa golf club which is rarely used, and by folding the wire elementagainst the strap, and placing a sock or boot over the club head andretriever, the retriever and club can be carried in a golf bag withoutinterfering with the other golf clubs therein.

It will thus be seen that a golf ball retriever is provided which isrelatively simple in construction, inexpensive in manufacture, easy touse, and especially compact so that it will take up a minimum of spacewhen not in use.

I claim:

l. A golf ball retriever including a strap, said strap being reverselybent intermediate its end so as to provide a pocket between thereversely bent portions thereof adapted to receive the iron head of agolf club, one leg of said strap being reversely looped adjacent itslower end so as to define a laterally extending hinge opening, ballholding means including a wire loop hingedly connected in said straphinge opening so as to be swingable between an angularly extendedposition with respect to said strap and a substantially coplanarposition adjacent said strap.

2. A golf ball retriever including a strap, said strap being reverselybent intermediate its end so as to provide a pocket between thereversely bent portions thereof adapted to receive the iron head of agolf club, one leg of said strap being reversely looped adjacent itslower end so as to define a laterally extending hinge opening, ballholding means including a wire loop hingedly connected in said straphinge opening 50 as to be swingable between an angularly extendedposition with respect to said strap and a substantially coplanarposition adjacent said strap, and stop means formed on said strap forreleasably retaining said wire loop in a predetermined angularlyextended position with respect to said strap.

3. A golf ball retriever including a strap reversely bent intermediateits end so as to form spaced inner and outer legs and define a pockettherebetween, said strap pocket being adapted to receive the iron headof a golf club, means for clamping the inner and outer legs of saidstrap against the opposed faces of said iron head so as to detachablyconnect said strap to the latter, the lower end of the outer leg of saidstrap being reversely bent so as to provide a female hinge portion, ballholding means including a one piece wire loop hingedly connected to saidstrap female hinge portion so as to be swingable between an angularlyextended position with respect to said strap and a substantiallycoplanar position adjacent said strap, and stop means formed on saidreversely looped female strap hinge portion for releasably retaining thesaid wire loop in a predetermined angularly extended position'withrespect to said strap.

4. A golf ball retriever including a strap reversely bent intermediateits end so as to provide inner and outer spaced legs defining a pockettherebetween, said pocket being adapted to receive the iron head of agolf club therein, the outer leg of said strap being reversely loopedadjacent its lower end so as to define a laterally extending femalehinge portion, ball holding means including a one-piece wire loop havinglaterally inturned legs formed on the inner end thereof, said laterallyinturned wire loop legs being disposed in said strap female hingeportion so as to permit swinging movement of said wire loop between anangularly extended position with respect to said strap and asubstantially coplanar position adjacent said strap, said reverselylooped strap portion having shoulders formed thereon adapted to engagesaid wire loop and limit the angularly extended position thereof withrespect to said strap, and means for detachably clamping said strap tothe iron head of a golf club.

WILLIAM H. JASMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 387,922 Schooley Aug. 14, 18881,431,968 McDermott Oct. 1'7, 1922

